Mumbai facing Radiation Cell Tower Radiation: Livelndi: com (05.8.2008) A recent study revealed that the electromagnetic radiations emitted from phone towers in Mumbai were way beyond safety levels. According to the study, the safe limit of radiations for human beings is up to 50 1 W/m*microwatts per square meter and the upper limit is 100 microwatts per square meter. The study revealed that the radiation readings in several residential areas were more than 1000 microwatts per square meters. Rate at which radiation is absorbed by the human body is measured by specific absorption rate (SAR), measured in units of watts per kg (W/kg) of tissue. If the heat generated is small, the body's thermoregulatory mechanism can dissipate it without causing adverse effects. Ifthe temperature exceeds this capacity. about 1 to 2 degree Celsins, tissue damage may occur. Every mobile phone comes with a SAR rating (although some manufacturers try to hide it) Regulating agencies has set its maximum levels for handsets. Radiations depend on its design, antenna, how it is held and used. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Committee on Man and Radiation, national and international organizations have established safety guidelines for exposure to RF energy. Testing has shown a wide range in radiation exposure to the user of various brands and models of cellular phones. The SAR values of a few cell-phone models are tabulated below:Motorola | VI95s 16 Nokia | E7ix | 153 1G | Rumor? | 151 SonyEricsson | W350a | 148 Samsuug | Instinct | 146 Sams [Soul 024 ‘Nokia 9300 021 Inesease in thermal effects occurs when whole-body energy absorption exceeds a SAR of 4 Woke. Taking this value as threshold for harmful effects, the International Commission on Non- Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) applies a safety factor of 30 to derive safe limits for exposure fo general public. However. studies, as mentioned above in previous sections, have shown that exposing humans to cell phone radiation can change brainwave activity, affect ‘memory and learning at SAR levels as low as 0.1 watt per kilogram (WiKg) in comparison to the US allowable level of 1.6 W/Kg and the ICNIRP allowable level of 2.0 WiKg. SAR value for ‘various mobile phones can be viewed at: bmp:/teviews.enet.com/cell-phone-radiation- 6. How safe is your Cell phone? Many cellular phones have microwave output signal strength of 1 to 2 Watts. The SAR limit of LGWiKgis only for 6 minutes usage per day. A fact. most of the mobile operators do not tell the users, It has been reported that approximately 20 minutes of continuous talking on mobile phones raises ear lobe temperature by roughly SC. A 1.5°C rise in temperature is equivalent to 2.°F, implying nomnal body temperature increasing from 98.4°F to fever of 101.1 °F. Only then, Drain realizes that ear temperature has gone up and body thermal regulatory mechanism starts funetioniong,From a GSM base station with more than one channel, there are thus a variety of reasons for variations in the transmitted power at any given time: how many channels are in use, how many of the time slots in the traffic channels are used, and whether DTX is used or not. (DTX is a function that inactivates the transmission if there is no voice detected — then only a sample of the background noise is transmitted. If DTX is used, it effectively reduces the average power by approximately a factor two.) Any attempt to characterise the exposure around a base station should take this traffic-dependent time-variation into account. Information from the operator of the base station on traffic statistics could provide a basis on how this should be done. Options could include sampling (for average situation) and/or choosing a probable maximum traffic time (for worst case situation). What is Specific Absorption Rate (SAR)? How can | use it? SAR is a measure of the amount of RF energy that is absorbed by the tissues in the human body. It indicates the average rate at which energy is absorbed for each kilogram of tissue (watts per kg). This measurement is used to determine whether a mobile phone complies with the safety guidelines. The exposure limit takes into consideration the body's ability to remove heat from the tissues that absorb energy from the mobile phone and is set|well below levels known to show biological effects.The U. S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) limit for RF radiation exposure from mobile phones is set at a SAR of 1.6 watts per kilogram (1.6 W/kg). ICNIRP recommends that the localized SAR in the head be limited to 2 Wikg averaged over any 10g mass of tissues in the head (0.02 W absorbed in any 10g mass of tissue in the head). A SAR of 4W/kg is associated with a temperature rise in humans of a fraction of a degree Celsius. Concer fo health Given the immense numbers of wers of mobile phones, even small averse effets on health could have major public health implications. This factsheet adresses these concer. rortant considerations must be ep 1 when evaluating possible health effects of RF fields, One is the frequency of